Stefani Vargas

Stefani is a Peruvian American student affairs educator, speaker, consultant, trainer, community organizer, & social scientist with 15+ yrs of experience in Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion work. She is the founder and Principle Consultant of Stone Hearth Consulting and is currently leading DEI initiatives in the Upper Peninsula and in Lansing.

Her work is rooted in community care, decolonization, & student development. Stefani holds bachelor's degrees in sociology and photography, and a master's degree in student affairs, all from Northern Michigan University. She is a widely requested speaker, consultant, & trainer for organizations throughout the country on a variety of topics ranging from inclusive policy design to LGBT+ history & identity.

Stefani’s current research focuses on the experiences of rural marginalized students in higher education, the intersections of technology & LGBT identity development, & institutional betrayal. She is an expert in butch/femme history and identity, stone identity, and fat liberation. Stefani's ethnographic work on butch/femme and stone identity and her educational lectures on the topic are in high demand and she is one of only a small number of scholars worldwide focused on these communities.

Before opening her independent consulting business, Stone Hearth Consulting, she worked for over a decade in higher education. Her work included work on dozens of of inclusive policy updates, creating training curriculum for students, faculty, and staff, and serving on various advisory councils with an eye on equity, Stefani spent three years as the head of the Student Equity & Engagement Center at Northern Michigan University where she chaired The President's Committee on Diversity and served as the Chair of the UNITED Conference, and created the first institutional initiative focusing on student athletes. Her work in higher education is used as the model for diversity services at institutions across the Midwest and beyond. 

Stefani is a first-generation American who was born & raised in Detroit. While she still holds unending love for the city that raised her, she has called the UP home since 2010 and she now considers herself a Yooper. In her free time, she enjoys spending quality time with her family and friends, paddle boarding with her dog Millie, & crafting.